


A Caffeinated Halloween

by merry_amelie



Series: Academic Arcadia [245]
Category: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Genre: Alternate Reality, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2016-10-29
Packaged: 2018-08-27 16:30:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8408710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merry_amelie/pseuds/merry_amelie
Summary: Our lads enjoy the holiday at 'Cream and Sugar'.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback: Is treasured at merryamelie@aol.com (or leave a comment).
> 
> Disclaimer: Mr. Lucas owns everything Star Wars. I'm not making any money.
> 
> For  
> My beta team: Emila-Wan and Carol  
> Mali Wane for posting to the Master Apprentice ML  
> Travis for posting to the Master Apprentice Archive on AO3   
> Alex for inspiring Arcadia 
> 
> References:  
> [M. R. James - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._R._James)  
> [Washington Irving - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Irving)
> 
> Arcadian references:  
> [Saturday Afternoon Fever ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4365995)  
> [A Little Halloween Diplomacy](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4359473)  
> [Oh, Whistle and I'll Come into You, My Lad](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5100686)
> 
> Halloween Arcadias:  
> 2003 -- [Masquerade](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1416970)  
> 2004 -- [Hallowe'en Kata](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1798078)  
> 2005 -- [Happy Tatooween](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4494276)  
> 2006 -- [Happy Tatooween, Take Two: Undercovers](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4494279)  
> 2007 -- [A Jedi Halloween](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4140561)  
> 2008 -- [Jedi Trick or Treat](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4209189)  
> 2009 -- [Return of the Jedi Halloween](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4276158)  
> 2010 -- [A Little Halloween Diplomacy](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4359473)  
> 2011 -- [Hallowed Light](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4388372)  
> 2012 -- [Halloween on the Go](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4397036)  
> 2013 -- [A Neighborly Halloween](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4397105)  
> 2013 -- [Halloween Treats for Grown-ups](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4397111)  
> 2014 -- [Groomed for Halloween](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2573033)  
> 2015 -- [Oh, Whistle and I'll Come into You, My Lad](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5100686)
> 
> To Tethys

On Halloween, the littlest ghosts and goblins were home from their haunts by the time Quinn and Ian strolled to 'Cream and Sugar', their neighborhood coffee house. As they headed for the main street of Alder Run, dressed as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, they exchanged waves with a couple of teenagers dressed as Jedi Padawans on their way to a party. Ian almost bowed for the sake of verisimilitude, but he thought that the gesture would probably be lost on them.

Quinn and Ian had decided to head out into the windy night when they'd heard the church bells chime at 9 o'clock. They had given treats to the last quartet of stragglers -- Rob Roy, Curt Wild, Oscar Wilde, and Julien Sorel -- all of whom had impressed the professors with their costumes and bearing. After this illustrious group, they'd figured that it was unlikely that there would be any more trick-or-treaters knocking on their door tonight. They'd had a pretty low turn-out, as it was. Probably something to do with the blustery weather blowing in from the north, as well as it being a weekday.

Since Halloween fell on a Monday this year, they had celebrated the holiday with family and friends over the weekend, instead of on a school day. On Saturday, they'd been invited to a block party at Prudence and Violet's house, to which they'd gone with Ian in costume as an adult Harry Potter and Quinn in the fastidious robes of Professor Snape. On Sunday, the family had come over to their home for some magic of their own.

Lelia had presented her uncles with a water-color painting of themselves, dressed as Master and Apprentice for Halloween. The men were striding up the streets of Alder Run, cowls thrown back and their cloaks billowing around them. Talk about dramatic! They sported orange-colored lightsabers hanging on their utility belts, in honor of the holiday. Some of her happiest memories had taken place on this date through the years, when she and Han were chaperoned by their very own Jedi Knights, protecting them from goblins and ghoulies, not to mention things that go Sith in the night. Lelia had turned BB-8 into a jack-o-lantern rolling along beside Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, making the whole family smile in delight. Her uncles had decided to hang her newest picture on the prime spot over the couch in the living room, which made Lelia beam at them.

Their celebrations over the weekend had helped them usher in the eighth week of the semester. Today had been another exhausting workday filled with classes and meetings. After they were finally through with it all, they got out the duffel they'd brought with them, which contained their aikido gi and cloaks, and changed into them behind their locked office door. Then they were ready to present their annual 'Ghosts in the Library' treat at the Roxburgh Classical Archives; this year, they had written the story themselves on a lark, a project near and dear to their hearts: 'A Haunting in Taton Hall: The Force Ghost and the Jedi Master'. It was an even bigger hit with the students -- based on the standing ovation -- than last year's M.R. James' presentation: 'Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad'. Probably because they appreciated all of the references to Luke people and places, which their professors had sneaked in, inspired by the Luke Monopoly game. They even noticed some unfamiliar faces in the audience; apparently, word was spreading about their performances, and students in other courses came by to see the show.

After the presentation, they'd come home and made a light dinner of the leftovers from their Halloween party, as well as some treats Violet and Prudence had given them to take home. Quinn, in particular, had never been able to resist Violet's bat brownies and marshmallow-cream ghosts. After their meal, the men had played with Sandy and Artoo in the front yard, so they could see trick-or-treaters when they came up the path. The professors gave out dark-chocolate granola bars this year, which seemed to be a hit with the children. They'd learned their lesson from last time, when they had given out toasted pumpkin seeds. One look at the children's disappointed faces, and Quinn had vowed to pick something healthy that the kids would actually like to eat from now on. Fortunately, even Quinn could see that the granola was a success, judging by the happy smiles he and Ian had received, when they threw them into the children's plastic pumpkins. He'd have to get them again next year.

The puppies also got Halloween treats: Snausages in Blankets, since Quinn just had to buy them, because they reminded him of his own beloved miniature hot dogs. After a lot of petting and pampering, they put the pups to bed for the night, not forgetting to turn on their C-P30 night light, particularly important to keep away the ghosts on Halloween. Then they used the facilities and headed out to 'Cream and Sugar' with a jangle of keys.

The coffee house wasn't crowded, what with many of its usual customers spooking out for the night, so the professors only had a few people in front of them on line. They waited patiently, then greeted Becca, one of their favorite baristas and Ian's former student. She was dressed as Shmi Skywalker and shone with her gentle grace.

"You look lovely tonight, Becca," said Ian, giving her a courtly bow.

"Thank you, Professor," she answered with a smile. "Shmi's a favorite character of mine in 'The Phantom Menace'."

"A woman of substance," Quinn said with approval.

After ordering their drinks, Quinn decided on a piece of crumb cake, as well. Ian paid tonight and left a generous tip in the cup. He had remembered his coffee card and gave it to Becca to be punched, so he was one step closer to a free pumpkin latte.

Their favorite table was unoccupied, so they went over to sit by the window. Quinn opened it to let in the dregs-of-October breeze. The dogwood tree wore its autumn cloak of burnished-red leaves now but was no less beautiful than in its springtime finery. Quinn smiled over at Ian when he felt the wind on his face.

After a couple of minutes, Becca brought over a mug of vanilla cappuccino for Ian and one with mocha macchiato steaming inside for Quinn. "Your cake will be out in a moment; I just have to warm it up for you."

They thanked her and blew on their coffees in unison, chuckling when they realized they were in sync, as always. Ian remembered not to be too provocative with his puffing, because Quinn was hyper-sensitive to his teasing. He took it as the compliment that it was, that he could turn his herven on so easily, especially after all these years.

"I miss going trick-or-treating with Lelia and Han this year," said Ian wistfully.

Quinn patted his hand. "We'll have to get used to it, laddie. She's at the age when she's feeling too grown up for that."

Ian sighed. "Too true, ma gradh. This year's probably a transitional one for her; the weekday was a good excuse not to drive up here with her folks."

Quinn nodded. "Especially since we just saw them yesterday." He sipped his cappuccino reflectively. "She's becoming a fine young diplomat."

Ian winked. "She's learning from the best, Master."

"Thank you, my Padawan," Quinn said, raising his mug to Ian.

"At least we'll always have the pictures of Lelia trick-or-treating," Ian said. "My favorite is the one where she hid under your cloak and got chocolate all over it. Thank the Force Kathy was able to capture it on her phone."

Quinn unconsciously touched the cloth near the neckline where her gooey fingers had been. "Ah, I remember that. Han had eaten the last Milky Way, and she was in full wail until it all sorted itself out."

"You're too modest, Master. You're leaving out the part where you saved the day by negotiating a fair settlement." Ian's blue-green eyes shone up at him in adoration. 

"Just what a devoted Padawan would say, my love." Quinn petted the place where the braid would have started on Obi-Wan. "That turned out to be a great shindig," Quinn said reminiscently.

"Well, at least she'll never be too old for one of our parties," Ian said with a grin.

That put a matching grin on Quinn's face, as he imagined a future Lelia at Violet's age, as well as Ian at Old Ben's age.

Becca came by with the crumb cake on a tray, along with two plates and forks, which interrupted Quinn's reverie. She even spooned additional foam into their mugs to refresh their drinks. Thanking her profusely, they eased back into their chairs.

Since he saw that Quinn's train of thought was already derailed, Ian said, "Nobody dressed up for Halloween in my classes today," sounding disappointed.

"The kids are so serious these days," said Quinn. "Only one of my students came to class in costume."

"Okay, now I'm curious. What happened?" Ian asked.

"Cash Speke, a power forward on the Skyhawks basketball team, dressed up as a Wookiee in my English Romantic Lit course. He made the rest of us look like Ewoks."

Ian whistled. "You -- looking like an Ewok? Cool! Wish I'd seen that." He snorted. "Finally, someone taller than you."

Quinn laughed, one of Ian's favorite sounds in the whole galaxy. "Not only that, but he didn't even shed."

Ian groaned. After all these years, Quinn was giving him a real run for his money in their quip wars.

"You haven't lived until you've seen a Wookiee declaim 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' in front of a class of 25 students with open mouths. When Cash said 'Arcady', I almost fell off of my chair."

"Even Keats never could have imagined that!" exclaimed Ian, chortling into his mug.

They both concentrated on savoring the crumb cake for a bit; it had been too hot to eat when Becca had first brought it over to them.

After a while, Ian said, "Kathy called during my office hours. She told me that Lelia and her classmates are visiting Tarrytown to see Sunnyside this weekend on a school trip. They'll try to stop by Sleepy Hollow, if they have the time."

"Ah, that's grand, laddie. 'Tis wonderful to have the kids learning about Washington Irving." Quinn went after an errant cinnamon crumb on his plate.

Ian nodded. "Lelia's teacher tried to book the trip for this past weekend, but apparently every school district in Upstate New York had the same idea."

"Well, it is perfect for Halloween, what with Irving's Headless Horseman and Rip Van Winkle," said Quinn.

"Spooooky," breathed Ian. With his usual flair, he managed to get some foam on his upper lip, even though there wasn't much left in his mug by now.

Quinn gazed at him appreciatively, then glanced at his Aldera watch. "Let's head home, laddie. 'Tis a school night, after all."

Ian spooned up the last of his foam and pushed back his chair. He and Quinn waved to Becca on their way out the door. Their cloaks flared in the breeze as they stepped into the Halloween night. They made a shortcut through the Commemorative Garden for the Veterans of World War II; it was deserted this close to the witching hour. So they took advantage of the privacy; after all, it seemed like a long walk home when you were waiting for a kiss. They shivered in anticipation, pulling their cloaks more snugly around them.

Quinn cradled Ian to him for an enchanting kiss. Pure Jedi magic.


End file.
